Gordon Takes 77th Career Win at Talladega
Written by Sheila Scarborough · April 29, 2007
The fans who dislike Jeff Gordon are just going to have to get used to him doing well and winning races. If they’re tossing beer cans on the track in frustration (embarrassing the sport in the process) they need to knock it off before they spend time in handcuffs.
Gordon won his 77th career victory today at Talladega Superspeedway, when the field was frozen for a caution during the “overdrive/overtime” lap and he was the driver in the lead. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson was second and Kurt Busch was third.
NASCAR.com race recap
The early laps of the Alabama race were fairly uneventful. The heat took a toll on a few engines and batteries, the lead changed around and everyone waited for the Big One. Initial pit stops were also uneventful (lots of tape being pulled off to help with cooling) except that Tony Stewart was too fast entering pit road at Lap 46 and had to do another drive-through as penalty.
Smoke didn’t let the penalty keep him down for long, and he charged back to the lead pack thanks in part to the first caution at Lap 74, for debris.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. briefly took the lead at Lap 87, with the Red Army predictably going wild, but he couldn’t hold onto it for long and ran into engine overheating problems by Lap 112, forcing him to slow.
At Lap 126, Casey Mears was nudged and spun by Jimmie Johnson; he was frustrated because he thought he’d made it clear that he was trying to get to Pit Road.
Kyle Busch continued his run of unfortunate wrecks as he was caught up in a tangle at Lap 131 with Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Rudd, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Burton and Martin Truex Jr.
By about Lap 160, the key to success was fuel conservation and staying out of trouble; the last major pit action was mostly just taking on fuel.
Tension was palpable as drivers jockeyed, bumped and blocked at Lap 182. David Reutimann’s blown engine at Lap 185 brought Yellow Caution No. 7, but by Lap 191, Jeff Gordon was in the lead and drivers were heading into the last two laps.
The race then hiccupped with Yellow Caution No. 8, when Elliott Sadler tagged Greg Biffle, who spun and got into Johnny Sauter. Ahead of the mess, David Gilliland hit Tony Stewart and Stewart hit the inside wall hard (then he jumped out of his car to shake his fist at Gilliland at the next pass.)
The field was frozen and so Jeff Gordon won, although rather anticlimactically. Like him or not, the guy won.
The post-race barrage of garbage/beer cans on the track is not only terribly dangerous, such trashy behavior only tends to confirm many people’s unfortunate stereotypes of NASCAR fans. I’d like to say that it’s “only a few bad apples,” but looking at post-race video from both today and Phoenix shows that there are large numbers of people who are participating.
Jeff Gordon and the entire sport deserve a lot better.
Comments
16 Responses to “Gordon Takes 77th Career Win at Talladega”
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I totally agree with your last paragraph. how many times is this going to be replayed on ESPN? Way to go “fans”, way to reinforce the stereotype that all NASCAR fans are rednecks with no class.
I think is’s fair to say the are not motorsport ‘fans’ but rather - for want of a better word - groupies who cheer for “their” driver. Exactly why after a race you would throw missiles at a driver who won an event is beyond me.
NASCAR does not get a lot of TV coverage down here in Australia, but guess what images were shown on the weekend sports wrap up last night? Not good for NASCAR or motorsport.
The NASCAR fans that throw trash at the 24 car are just plain jealous. Their number 8 car is just not any good when compared to the 24. Jeff Gordon is probably the smartest driver on the track when it comes to car set up, and it shows!
And how ironic that Tony benefits (via the lucky dog) on a debris caution after his tirade against debris cautions…
I know when I go to the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 I like to enjoy my beer while enjoying the race and cheering my drivers on but if those
@#$%#$@# race fans keep throwing their beer cans out you know what nascar is going to do…NO MORE BRING YOUR OWN BEER IN. YOULL HAVE TO BUY THERES AND IT WILL COME IN PLASTIC CUPS AT 8 BUCKS A POP. Always one bad group in the bunch that is going to ruin it for everyone else.
Cry, cry, cry!!!!!!!!
Maybe some people need to grow up here. I’m 54 and have been to 50 Indy 500 races in a row. Show some respect for the sport and the drivers.
Jesus! What are you thinking? Number one is and will always be are all the drivers safe at the end of the race. It is after all just a race please grow up and act your age. Maybe cut back on a few beers. Which I love but would never ever throw anything on the track.
God bless the drivers and teams that put there lives on the line to give us a great show!
Just a race fan, Michael
Found a great site… http://www.nocaroftomorrow.com somebody finally doing something to stop this nonsense!
http://www.nocaroftomorrow.com
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